GamesRadar - Grand Theft Auto IV

GameSpot's Best of 2008: Preliminaries (News)

Dec 3, 2008

In a year when most businesses tried to figure out how to stay alive, the video game industry thrived thanks to two things: great games, and you. So give yourself a pat on the back; your thirst for single-handedly saving the world with magic, guns, and fast thumbs has kept the gaming industry going strong when all else seems to be going wrong.

Rumor Killers: GTAIV DLC, LEGO Harry Potter, and Street Fighter IV Sackboys (News)

Dec 2, 2008

The latest gossip on Grand Theft Auto IV DLC, a Harry Potter Lego game, and LittleBigPlanet as we finally start our holiday shopping.

Biggest Sellers This Year Were Sequels (News)

Dec 1, 2008

It's not really surprising that game sequels sell better than new intellectual properties. Didn't expect it to be this lopsided, though: seven of the eight best-selling games in the past twelve months have been sequels.

Midway: "GTA 4 has changed gamers' expectations" (News)

Dec 1, 2008

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at a recent press event in London, Wheelman creative director Simon Woodroffe revealed that Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV has changed what gamers expect from an open world action title.

"Our game was already quite different, but GTA 4 moved the bar in terms of what people expected from an open-world driving game," said Woodroffe. "Before GTA 4, open-world driving games generally had more accessible, more arcade-like, handling. Even the previous GTAs were like that. But GTA IV moved the bar towards realism - even super-realism, you know?

New Game Releases for the Week of Nov. 30, 2008 (News)

Nov 29, 2008

Gamerdeals.net writes:

"Highlights this week include Prince of Persia (Xbox 360/PS3), Destroy All Humans 3: Path of Furon (Xbox 360), King of Fighters Orochi Saga (Nintendo Wii), Grand Theft Auto IV (PC), Singstar ABBA (PS3/PS2), plus much more!

Check out the full list of new video game releases (USA) for the week of November 30, 2008 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Sony PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC!"

GR video included in T3's best of the net (News)

Nov 28, 2008

Technology site T3.com has published a list of the 15 funniest internet videos - and whaddyaknow - our GTA IV Naked Gun video made the grade. Head on in to get to their list, which also contains South Park's Guitar Hero moment and the excellent voice-over parody of WWII film Downfall. ...

GTA IV DLC to be available in shops? (News)

Nov 28, 2008

GI.Biz writes: "The new downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV is set to be available in stores as well as via Xbox Live, according to a new listing on the website of US retailer GameStop.

It prices GTA IV: The Lost & Damned at USD 19.99 (GBP 13 / EUR 15) and, according to GameStop, consumers won't get an actual disc but a "token card" with a unique code that lets them buy the expansion pack via Live."

GTA IV Lost & Damned Priced: $20 (News)

Nov 28, 2008

Developed by series creator Rockstar North and set in Liberty City, The Lost and Damned features a new main character, Johnny Klebitz, and a plot that intersects with the storyline of Grand Theft Auto IV offering an entirely fresh way to explore Liberty City.

Bill Cosby: Grand Theft Auto is Entrance Exam for Prison (News)

Nov 23, 2008

GamingPolitics:

"Comedian and activist Bill Cosby likened Grand Theft Auto to a prison prep course during an appearance in Greenwood, Mississippi on Thursday.

Cosby, who urged the local African-American community to take an active role in bettering their neighborhood, dismissed Rockstar's controversial game series, saying:

"Cost your mother $250 to buy that for you so you can practice your entrance exam (to prison)."

Jack Thompson pays the Florida bar (News)

Nov 21, 2008

Say what you will of Jack Thompson, he always pays his bills. And he sure will do his damndest to let you know about it, too.

Grand Theft Auto IV (Screenshots)

Nov 20, 2008

Rockstar GTA IV 360 DLC will have "new multiplayer modes, weapons and vehicles," says press release (News)

Nov 20, 2008

Rockstar's confirmed that GTA IV 360 DLC The Lost and Damned will feature "new multiplayer modes, weapons and vehicles".

GTA IV Ads Back on Chicago Buses, But Future M-Rated Game Ads Banned (News)

Nov 20, 2008

Niko Bellic is back.

About six months after the Chicago Transit Authority pulled ads for the violent but popular gangland video game "Grand Theft Auto IV," triggering a lawsuit from the gamemaker and attracting national attention, billboards for the game and its brooding, East European anti-hero have begun reappearing on the sides of CTA buses.

Grand Theft Auto DLC Revealed (News)

Nov 20, 2008

The upcoming episode of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV looks to be a wild one.

Subscription-based GTA and BioShock planned? (News)

Nov 17, 2008

CVG.com writes: "Take-Two chief Strauss Zelnick says that the company's looking to exploit a subscription-based pricing model for its AAA titles.

While the publisher's currently focused on delivering its first DLC (for Grand Theft Auto IV and the PS3 version of BioShock), it has other plans in store to boost its bank account, which could see its premium titles take on a subscription-based model.

"The holy grail is taking a business, already a very large and successful business that's focused on packaged goods that you sell once and then are occasionally resold by others with new benefit to us, and turning that into a subscription business or a semi subscription business where we have an ongoing relationship with consumers, giving them products that they want," Zelnick said at last week's BMO Capital Markets conference (whoops, missed it at the time)."

GTA IV Scoops Interactive Award In Scottish BAFTAs (News)

Nov 17, 2008

It's November in Scotland. That means two things. Surging haggis sales thanks to St Andrews Day and the Scottish BAFTA awards.

GTA IV DLC delayed until Spring 2009? (News)

Nov 13, 2008

Speaking at a presentation at the BMO Capital Markets Conference in New York City today, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed that the highly-anticipated downloadable content for GTA IV may not make it until next Spring.

"It's close to being complete. That said, it may move into the second quarter [of 2009]," he said. "Downloadable content is a big undertaking. It is important to be really special."

Zelnick's comments reflect recent claims by Rockstar's Dan Houser in which he couldn't commit to a 2008 release.

Despite Fanboy Accusations, Metacritic Does Not Exclude In-Network Review Scores (News)

Nov 12, 2008

Ripten writes: "A few weeks ago, we ran a story about LittleBigPlanet's Metacritic user score: a measly 6.3. We spoke to the site's founder Marc Doyle about the matter and were informed that it was only that low due to rampant fanboys on the warpath, attempting to sabotage the PS3 and its games. This inevitably continued with more low user scores: Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2. Well, it seems that now, fanboys have started trying to influence the critic's score, by flaming LittleBigPlanet on the site's forums.

While posting on this thread, an unnamed Metacritic user and certified fanboy claims they were wrongfully banned for what the cite deemed "crude and rude" statements. The complaint was then carried over by the user as an attempted news post on gaming news site N4G.

In the Metacritic thread itself, a series of users voiced concerns that not every 10/10 score for Sony's huge IP LittleBigPlanet had been posted to the site. The users kick and scream because their favorite system's biggest game isn't scored as high as they'd like - beaten only by GTA4. We spoke to Marc about the matter, and he summed up the idiocy neatly:..."

Grand Theft Auto IV Key to the City Keys Starting to Arrive (News)

Nov 12, 2008

James Parkin reports:

"Great news everyone, we're getting numerous reports from people all over the world stating that they've received their coveted Grand Theft Auto IV Key to the City."

Rockstar "not sure" when GTAIV content is coming (News)

Nov 10, 2008

Arstechnica writes: Before Grand Theft Auto IV's release, Microsoft paid $50 million to secure the exclusive rights to a large batch of downloadable content. To this day, no information about that content has been divulged, except for a tentative release date of fall 2008. Even that single piece of information appears to be moot now, as Rockstar has commented that it is "not sure" when the content will go live.

GTA IV Keys To The City Are Surprisingly Fancy (News)

Nov 8, 2008

If you got GTAIV on or just after its release, managed to rack up a 100% completion percentage and got one of those "return within seven days" emails, congratulations. You were one of the first people to "complete" the game, and earned yourself a prize. If you took the time to read that email, you'd have noticed that Rockstar warned it could take up to 120 days for your prize - a "key" to Liberty City - to arrive, depending on how many they had to make. Guess they had to make a ton of them, because they're only now, in November, shipping out to the winners. Reader MastaKwaa was one of the lucky ones, and his just turned up in the mail. If you're a fellow winner, yours will be there soon, and will look like this. If you weren't a winner, here's what you could have got yourself if you were a winner, and not a loser.

Media Create Sales: 10/27 - 11/02 (GTAIV PS3 @ 133k!) (News)

Nov 6, 2008

Chart Get! has translated the latest Japanese Sales data from Media Create for 10/27 - 11/02.

01. [PS3] Grand Theft Auto IV (Capcom) 133,000 / NEW
02. [NDS] Valkyrie Profile: Toga o Seoumono (Square Enix) 80,000 / NEW
03. [PS3] LittleBigPlanet (SCE) 52,000 / NEW
04. [NDS] Pokémon Platinum (Pokémon) 47,000 / 1,853,400
05. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (Nintendo) 40,000 / 117,000
06. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 39,000 / 1,089,000
07. [360] Grand Theft Auto IV (Capcom) 34,000 / NEW
08. [NDS] Personal Trainer: Walking (Nintendo) 26,000 / NEW
09. [NDS] Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu + (Square Enix) 26,000 / NEW
10. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) (Capcom) 26,000 / NEW

Notice Wii Music has already dropped out of the top 10!

Full top 30 and colorful charts at Chart Get!

Grand Theft Auto IV is Officially Number 1 in Japan (News)

Nov 5, 2008

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV is making a big splash over in Japan, according to the weekly software ranking published by Famitsu. The big budget sandbox title is debuted at the top of the charts, while LittleBigPlanet and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue: Spec III took third and seventh place, respectively...

Read the rest of this news at the link below.

MS UK gaming boss: I know when GTA 4 DLC is coming out (News)

Oct 31, 2008

Microsoft's UK head of gaming and entertainment Stephen McGill knows when the hotly anticipated Xbox 360 exclusive downloadable content is going to be released.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com, McGill revealed that Rockstar has said it will be out in its next quarter, which runs from November to the end of January, but stopped short of revealing the exact date.

Costumes that saved the world (Feature)

Oct 30, 2008

When the Puritans began settling down in North America during the early 17th century, they didn’t practice cosplay. Those were dark days - dark, costume-less days, filled with famine, toil, and a depressingly short supply of free candy. It would take nearly 200 years for Americans and Canadians to finally embrace Halloween as a mainstream event - and it was mostly thanks to a flood of Irish and Scottish immigrants in the late 19th century. ...

Sony UK boss on DLC: 'Nothing is ever exclusive' (News)

Oct 29, 2008

Sony Computer Entertainment UK managing director Ray Maguire has told VideoGamer.com that "nothing is ever exclusive" in response to questions surrounding exclusive DLC on Microsoft's Xbox 360.

The Scariest Games this fall - Part 2 (Feature)

Oct 29, 2008

A few months back we featured the most bloodcurdling games to be unleashed this fall. We then graded each fright fest depending on what we assumed would be the scariest. The big surprise though is that half of the games featured - including FEAR 2 - either won’t be released by year’s end or - like in GhostBusters and Fatal Frame’s case - don’t even have release dates. ...

GTA 4 Trophy patch goes live (News)

Oct 27, 2008

1.00 AM GMT trophy patch for PS3 went live. It is 20MB. They are not retroactive.

Grand Theft Auto IV Price Drop Just In Time For Holiday (News)

Oct 25, 2008

GP Reports: "To prepare everyone for the upcoming DLC of GTA IV for our XBOX 360 owners and the trophies that are going live this Monday for Playstation 3 owners, the price of Grand Theft Auto IV has officially dropped to $49.99, making it very affordable for everyone who still hasn't had a chance to explore Liberty City..."

GTA IV Gets Multiplayer Zombie Infections (News)

Oct 24, 2008

Rockstar has confirmed that the rumors were true and they have released a zombie plague onto GTA IV players who play multiplayer. In addition to being able to get infect, players can also track where the infection has spread to through the Rockstar Social Club.

Quarantine Teaser at Rockstar Social Club (News)

Oct 23, 2008

GamingShogun writes, "Nope, its not for the movie Quarantine (at least, we don't think it is), however it could be a teaser for some new GTA IV downloadable content featuring zombies. How cool of a Halloween surprise would that be! For those of you who cannot read through the chain link, here is what it says: 'Contagious Disease - No one shall enter or leave this premises without the proper documentation issued by Eugenics Inc..."

GTAIV gets near perfect score from Famitsu, beats LittleBigPlanet (News)

Oct 22, 2008

Japanese games magazine Famitsu has given Grand Theft Auto IV a score of 10,10,9,10 which means that three out four reviewers thought it damn near perfect. This rather surprisingly outscored Sony's LittleBigPlanet, which recieved a more than formidable 10,10,9,9.

Full scores below.

Grand Theft Auto IV - Liberty City Lovers (Video)

Oct 20, 2008

What if GTA IV was a gay romantic comedy? (Feature)

Oct 20, 2008

Here at GamesRadar, we believe in asking, and then answering, the tough questions that no-one else is asking. Take GTA IV, for example. Players and critics alike lauded Rockstar’s hyperviolent ode to the savage desolation of the human soul, the gritty tale of gangster vengeance that unfolds as Niko struggles with his inner demons. Good stuff, for sure – Joseph Conrad couldn’t do better. ...

Lazlow: GTA IV DLC is "More Missions And Characters" (News)

Oct 18, 2008

Grand Theft Auto's most famous DJ has begun talking about the series again, this time giving a little detail on what fans can expect from the forthcoming Xbox 360 exclusive downloadable content....

Schappert - "I don't know" when GTA IV DLC will be released (News)

Oct 9, 2008

Eurogamer: "John Schappert, the man in charge of Xbox Live, has admitted he's no idea when we'll see the downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV.

Last we heard, the DLC - which is exclusive to Xbox 360 - was down to be released "this autumn".

But, well, it's October now. So during a roundtable interview at the Tokyo Game Show, we asked Schappert whether we will indeed see the content this side of Christmas.

"Frankly, I don't know," said the Xbox Live boss. "Rockstar are the people to ask for that."

He went on to add, "I hope as a gamer, just like I'm sure you do as a gamer, the sooner the better. I can't wait for it." Even though, Schappert confirmed, he hasn't had the chance to give it a play as yet.

GTA:IV, Fallout 3 - now Tomb Raider: Underworld: Is this the next chapter in "exclusive games" ? (News)

Oct 7, 2008

From XboxOZ360:

"First there was GTA:IV's Exclusive DLC, then we discovered Fallout 3 will have Exclusive DLC and now Tomb Raider: Underworld has joined the ranks of those games offering Xbox 360 owners exclusive content through XboxLIVE.

The two majors have both stated publicly that the era of "Exclusive titles" - 3rd and some 1st party titles, has run it course, due mainly to a change in the distribution and financial turn around on games in the current market. Not to mention major publisher/developers like Capcom dropping exclusive content."

World Gaming lets you turn frags into cash (News)

Oct 1, 2008

It's every gamers' dream: win money by playing video games. Despite gaming's newfound mainstream acceptance, most people--especially those in the United States--do not recognize gaming as a legitimate competitive activity. In a country where card games like Texas Hold 'em have recently exploded, turning 21-year-olds into online superstars, it's no stretch to assume that more gaming mediums deserve a similar place in public attention.

Housers Will Stay With Rockstar - Analyst (News)

Sep 24, 2008

Edge writes: "With Grand Theft Auto masterminds Sam and Dan Houser's contracts up for renewal in February 2009, speculation has led some to believe the pair could be sniped by rival game makers.

But analyst Mike Hickey with Janco Partners finds that scenario unlikely, saying the two will stay with Rockstar Games.

He wrote in a Tuesday investor note, 'We find it unlikely that the Houser brothers would leave Take-Two Interactive for a competitor, as loyalty, compensation, culture and compelling IP should be sufficient in aggregate to leave employment alternatives unappealing.'"

GTA IV weekend (News)

Sep 19, 2008

Microsoft and Rockstar team up to present weekend event with sweepstakes featuring great prizes including an Xbox 360 Elite, 12-month Xbox LIVE Gold account and more.

GTA IV Sales Not as Obscenely/Repulsively Huge as Expected, Barely 10 Million Sold (News)

Sep 19, 2008

Companies, no matter how big or small, really like making money. This is no secret and, you know, God bless. Sometimes, though, their whining about not making enough of the stuff can be downright infuriating. A good example is Take-Two Interactive, makers of the overrated popular Grand Theft Auto video games. According to a recent report, sales of GTA IV are slowing considerably and not meeting the company's expectations.

Rockstar: 'We haven't announced a release date' for GTA IV expansion' (News)

Sep 18, 2008

Microsoft and Rockstar make differing statements regarding the GTA IV downloadable content coming to Xbox 360, leaving open the possibility of a delay to 2009.

Microsoft today again promised that downloadable GTA IV content would be coming to Xbox 360 in time for Christmas, according to Video Gamer. The news, however, contradicts previous statements made by both Microsoft and Rockstar earlier this month to GamePro.

Blizzard: GTA 4 is 'like an MMO but with one quest' (News)

Sep 16, 2008

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at Games Convention last month Diablo III lead designer Jay Wilson has revealed which games he's been playing this year. Unsurprisingly Blizzard's own World of Warcraft has taken up a lot of his spare time, but Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction, C&C3 and GTA 4 have also been getting a look in.

"Well, I'm currently playing the PS3 Ratchet & Clank, which I absolutely love. I play a lot of World of Warcraft, and a lot of RTSs - so I was playing C&C3 earlier this year. I know it took me a while to catch up to it, but I have like this laundry list! I really enjoyed GTA 4," he told us during an interview last month.

Although GTA 4 is seemingly very different to World of Warcraft, Wilson thinks the two games have some things in common.

"I especially liked the way they introduced their campaign," he said. "It's funny, but we joke about GTA 4 that it's like an MMO but with one quest - and how did they pull that off? If we gave people an MMO with one quest they'd skin us alive! But really it means that they get to pace their game, but give people this open-world illusion that they have complete freedom, which is wonderful. It's a great way to create a game, and it's really fun."

MS confirms GTA 4 DLC out in time for Xmas (News)

Sep 16, 2008

Microsoft has today confirmed that the first of the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable episodes is to be released exclusively for Xbox 360 this autumn.

The platform holder notes that the Xbox 360 will be the "only console with new Grand Theft Auto IV content available this Christmas".

Analysts Predict Whether You Will Buy 'GTA IV' DLC (News)

Sep 16, 2008

In a report issued Friday to review publisher Take-Two's earnings and EA's faded interest in buying the company, analysts Michael Pachter and Edward Woo of Wedbush Morgan Securities discussed the near future of the "Grand Theft Auto" publisher.

A stand-out element of their analysis is the following prediction about the performance of the Xbox 360-exclusive "GTA IV" downloadable content, in which they estimate how many of you "GTA IV" owners will buy the supposed two-part offering.

Banjo dev: Game play through time 'almost irrelevant' (News)

Sep 11, 2008

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at a recent Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts press day at Microsoft's Reading HQ, Rare's senior animator Elissa Miller said that the time it takes gamers to play through a modern video game is pretty much "irrelevant".

Asked about the apparent move away from linear gaming to much more free experiences - LittleBigPlanet, Spore, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts - Miller said this is the kind of gaming she enjoys most.

"For some people, that's the most interesting part. I know it's what I enjoy the most. Rather than play a game through from start to finish, I like to get lost in it," said Miller.

She added: "The amount of time it takes to actually complete a game is almost irrelevant, nowadays."

GTA IV Radio Station Prompts Music Copyright Lawsuit (News)

Sep 10, 2008

A Jamaican man who claims that he co-wrote a pair of reggae songs featured on one of Grand Theft Auto IV's radio stations filed suit over the issue against Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive in July.

The suit was dropped yesterday in federal court in Manhattan.

Sex beast copied Grand Theft Auto (News)

Sep 10, 2008

The Sun: A TEEN sex beast attacked four women in an imitation of violent computer game Grand Theft Auto, a court heard yesterday.
Ryan Chinnery, 19, prowled streets in his car targeting females he thought were prostitutes after becoming obsessed with the video nasty.

He assaulted his victims, none of them hookers, by night in a two-month period.

And the court was told he may have been influenced by the virtual reality game, in which a character drives around on "missions" - including approaching prostitutes who can be beaten up.

Grand Theft Auto IV Could Sell Over 23 Million Units (News)

Sep 5, 2008

Gamedaily writes: "In the wake of the recent GTA fueled quarter for Take-Two Interactive, analysts have weighed in on the publisher's future. UBS analyst Ben Schachter and Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter both mention management's belief that GTA IV could ultimately outsell its predecessor GTA: San Andreas, which would mean the blockbuster title would sell over 23 million units. To date, the game has shipped around 11 million units and sold through 10 million to consumers.

"In our view, the 1 million units remaining at retail will be sufficient to satisfy consumer demand for the balance of this quarter," noted Pachter. "While we expect some reorders in Q1:09, we expect orders to approximate 30% of hardware sales in Take-Two's addressable market, or around 2.5 million additional units.'"

Old GTA games sold 1 million units in May-July (News)

Sep 5, 2008

Speaking in an earnings call following the release of Q3 financials last night, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder said that old GTA titles have sold in seven figure units for the quarter.

Rockstar launching new GTA IV campaign for autumn and Christmas (News)

Sep 5, 2008

In Take-Two's third-quarter earnings call last night, CEO Ben Feder said that Rockstar is planning a new Christmas push for GTA IV.

Take-Two re-confirms GTA IV 360 DLC for fiscal 2009 (News)

Sep 4, 2008

Take-Two's just re-confirmed it will ship DLC for the 360 version of GTA IV in fiscal 2009, beginning November 1 this year.

Grand Theft Auto Film Rip Off On the Way? (News)

Sep 4, 2008

A call has gone out for teens to help Briggs Digital Media, an internet TV company, cash in on the success of the GTA franchise.

A casting call for a short film call Game Over states, "Teens looking to appear in the upcoming short film must be very experienced players of "Grand Theft Auto.""

The movie will be directed by Bobby Garabedian, whose short film, Most, was nominated for an Oscar.

Games take over corporate logos (Feature)

Sep 4, 2008

I literally sat at my desk for hours trying to come up with some kind of witty or insightful introduction to this article. I tried to play up our shared history as gamers, that we play so many of these damn things it’s easy to picture game names in place of everyday brands. ...

GTA IV DLC on track for November (News)

Sep 4, 2008

Sources close to Rockstar North have told Eurogamer that downloadable Grand Theft Auto IV content is on track for a late November release.

Parent company Take-Two previously changed the date from autumn to some time between November 2008 and January 2009 - leaving our stockings at risk of being empty.

The content, which is "absolutely exclusive" to Xbox 360, will be made up of at least two episodes around 10 hours in length, complete with extra unlockable Achievements. Speculation on what form it will take has ranged from additional cities to developed side-missions with brand new stories to unravel. There's been no mention of what all this will cost.

Microsoft, Rockstar quiet on GTA IV expansion release (News)

Sep 3, 2008

Microsoft unwilling to commit to "autumn" release, and Rockstar isn't talking.

Xbox 360 owners hoping for fresh Grand Theft Auto IV missions this fall might have to wait until next year.

Grand Theft Auto Helps Preteen Rescue Family From Crashed Car (News)

Sep 3, 2008

Kotaku writes: "While we've seen countless story regarding children using Grand Theft Auto as their inspiration to do wrong, it's extremely rare that we see news about GTA being cited as a cause for good. It happened on August 27th around 9pm, as the Norris family of five was heading to Diamond, Illinois to visit relatives. Their 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee swerved off the road, hitting a guardrail and flipping four times before coming to a stop, caving in the roof and smashing out the back window. With her mother hanging upside down and her father pinned against the steering wheel, 11-year-old Audrey Plique climbed out of the back window and helped her parents and two younger siblings escape the car. The motivation for her heroic act, according to her mother Karen Norris?

'She just knew, from playing 'Grand Theft Auto.' She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us'"

Thailand Bans Games (News)

Sep 3, 2008

The government of Thailand was in an uproar after a nineteen year old man murdered a taxi driver and told police he was reenacting Grand Theft Auto. The extremely conservative Ministry of Culture has taken action by banning several video games from the country.

Earlier this year the Ministry released a list of objectionable violent games which it turns out were stolen from a list put forth by a Detroit prosecutor as a warning to parents during the holiday season of 2007. Hitman, 300, Hitman: Blood Money, Killer Seven and Fifty Cent: Bulletproof have all been officially banned in Thailand, and all of these games were on that list.

TGR's Rumor Killers: GTA4 DLC, Next-gen DS, and Lightsaber Waggle (News)

Aug 29, 2008

TGR - "In our last edition of Rumor Killers we brought you word that Microsoft was expecting to release the first batch of exclusive Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC in November, alongside the new Xbox Experience. Turns out that might just be wishful thinking on Microsoft's part though, and anyone looking for a reason to go back into Liberty City will have to wait until 2009.

According to a a source close to Rockstar, there is no way the new content will be released until next year, with January or February 2009 being pinned as the early possible dates the new content could make its debut."

Attorney: Blame Grand Theft Auto in Court, Get Rich (News)

Aug 28, 2008

shacknews.com: The use of Grand Theft Auto as a scapegoat isn't going anywhere, says law professor Ashley Lipson. The trick is worth too much money.

"A good defense lawyer will blame everyone in sight, except of course the client. When he or she runs out of people to blame, it's time to look around for objects. What could be better than a popular videogame?"

TGR's Rumor Killers: Halo 4, Home, and GTA4 DLC (News)

Aug 26, 2008

TGR - "Gearbox Software is no stranger to high profile games, particularly those of the shooter variety. The company behind the Brothers in Arms series has been hinting for a while now that they're working on something big, something huge, something so mind-blowing if they dared speak its name we would all prostrate ourselves and weep uncontrollably for weeks. The only problem is that we had no idea what this project was, until now."

Rumor: GTA 4 DLC Adds 15 Hours of Gameplay (News)

Aug 25, 2008

The first of the two pieces of Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV will add approximately 15 hours of gameplay to the 360 version when it hits this November, according to an unconfirmed report from web comic RPG-TV.

GTAIV DLC Rumored To Be Huge And Cost 1600 MS Points (News)

Aug 23, 2008

Torrence Davis of The Bitbag writes, "Last night on the Warzone, Weapon X gave us the skinny on the GTAIV DLC. Here are the things he mentioned:

1. GTAIV DLC will arrive in late October or Early November
2. The DLC will be more like an expansion pack
3. It's rumored to cost 1600 MS points and will be very large

None of this is confirmed yet but Weapon X has some very good sources. Stay tuned for more info on this in the coming weeks."

GTA IV Breaks the Six Million Barrier (News)

Aug 22, 2008

PSU writes: Grand Theft Auto IV unsurprisingly sits at the top of the pile for worldwide sales in 2008, shifting a whopping 6.29 million copies since the beginning of the year.

Niko Bellic May Not Play Role in GTA IV DLC (News)

Aug 21, 2008

Ripten writes:

"At ComicCon '08 GameTrailers had the opportunity to catch up with the voice behind Niko Bellic, Michael Hollick. Geoff Keighly prefaced one of his questions by stating that Rockstar has been very tight-lipped about the upcoming DLC, adding that no one knows what to expect. Michael responded by saying 'neither do I' ...

The GTA IV DLC has been shrouded in ambiguity since its very announcement. It's been 4 months since the release of the game, and we haven't heard so much as a snippet of news regarding downloadable content. The trend continues, this time courtesy of Leipzig Games Convention where Microsoft said, 'In autumn there will be news from Liberty City,' followed by a mouthful of marketing mumbo jumbo."

LGC: Autumn update for GTA IV DLC (News)

Aug 20, 2008

CVG writes: Hidden at the end of a press release for Microsoft's impressive holiday line-up is word that there'll be news on the GTA IV DLC this autumn. That's 'news' and not a release date.

Tired of list articles yet? (Feature)

Aug 19, 2008

GamesRadar is no stranger to the list article. Hell, we've posted at least one every week for nearly two years. They're fun to write, easy to read and get the job done in a fraction of the time it'd take you to barf all that information out in non-list form.

But some topics demand a more in-depth touch, and the idea-nauts at GR are more than capable of delivering wordy, researched material for those with enough time to digest it. ...

Grand Theft Auto IV - Serial killer (Video)

Aug 15, 2008

5 Cool Things You Missed in GTA IV (Feature)

Aug 15, 2008

Grand Theft Auto IV is too big, too deep, too overwhelming. You could finish the storyline completely and still pass by some of the game's very best moments. We're not talking about pigeons, stunt jumps, glitches or Easter eggs either. We're talking about entire characters, whole missions, secret sex scenes and phonebooks worth of must-see trivia. ...

Electronic Arts keeping price of games artificially high (News)

Aug 15, 2008

Electronic Arts always seem to get the sh!t@y end of the stick when being discussed in the gaming community. Not least because of their aggressive buyout of top developers such as Pandemic, Bullfrog and such like, but also the tendency for them to invest huge amounts of money in acquiring licenses only to produce a bunch of shovelware that sits atop the festive gaming charts year in year out.

As if that wasn't bad enough - EA are now beginning to attempt to 'strangle' the second hand games market.

Nielsen: 17% of GTA IV Purchasers Underage - They also found episodic content on 360 swayed some buyers (News)

Aug 13, 2008

Gamedaily.biz writes: "The folks at Nielsen Games have released a new report on Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, which looks at reasons for purchase, platform preference and perhaps most interestingly the ability for minors to get their hands on the controversial title. In fact, Nielsen found that 17 percent of respondents in their survey who had purchased GTA IV were between the ages of seven and 16.

Elsewhere in the Nielsen report, the company found that Microsoft's exclusive episodic GTA content (coming this fall) did have some sway on consumers, with 25 percent of those who purchased the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV citing the extra content as a deciding factor. 64 percent said they simply prefer the Xbox 360 over the PS3."

Houser made GTA by digging his "f***ing teeth in," says Levine (News)

Aug 10, 2008

BioShock dev lead Ken Levine has spoken for the first time about his Take-Two compadres at Rockstar, saying the Sam Houser is the "most intense guy in the world" and that he shares the Houser's method of creating great games: "digging your f***ing teeth in."

Halo 3, Xbox 360 Top G-Phoria 2008 Awards Full List Rundown (News)

Aug 9, 2008

Bungie's Halo 3 took top Game of the Year honors during the G-Phoria awards last night, broadcast by game-oriented cable television network G4.

Xbox 360 was named the station's favorite system -- which falls in line with the award distribution. Of the show's 18 game awards, only four went to titles not available on Microsoft's system: Best Graphics and Best Voice Acting for Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Best Racing Game for Nintendo EAD's Mario Kart Wii, and, by default, Best Handheld Game for Ready at Dawn's God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Follow Thailand and ban violent video game (News)

Aug 9, 2008

In an op-ed for the Star Online, Mohamed Idris, president of a Malaysian consumer rights organization has called for a ban on Grand Theft Auto and similarly violent video games.

3 Teens Arrested; Say 'Grand Theft Auto' Taught Them About Molotov Cocktails (News)

Aug 7, 2008

WSBTV writes: "Fulton County officials said they have arrested three teens and charged them with 57 felony counts in connection with a recent series of car bombings with Molotov cocktails in the city of Milton, north of Atlanta.

The felony charges include arson, criminal damage to property and possession of explosive devices in six vehicle fires between 11 p.m. July 24 and 3 a.m. July 25. Each teen is charged with 19 counts.

Officials said the teens -- ages 15 and 16 -- told authorities they learned "how to do it" from playing the video game 'Grand Theft Auto.'"

GTA is blamed. Again. For destruction of potted plants (News)

Aug 7, 2008

...And in GTA IV, plants are one of the ONLY things you can't destroy...

'From killing sprees to the decay of society, Grand Theft Auto has been blamed for a lot of things. Add destroying plants. Swedish park supervisor Gert Axelsson is tired of the plants being destroyed in the park he oversees in Lulea, northern Sweden. "I am very much considering getting surveillance," says Axelsson. And what does he blame for the plant destruction and increased vandalism? GTA "where you wreak havoc in the city." He's totally right, you know. Because the potted plant mission is my favorite. Heck, I've been kicking over plants all week. Whenever I see a flower bed, I immediately think uproot uproot. Just like I was taught in GTA. We're surprised that people are just catching onto this now. People are so slow sometimes.'

So there you go. GTA kills plants.

Let's add it to the list...

Five games you love that should go MMO (Feature)

Aug 7, 2008

Forget the tedious grinding and throw out the goblins. These would be the coolest MMOs ever made. ...

GTA IV PC to enable cross platform PC-360 online play? (News)

Aug 6, 2008

Maxconsole writes: "Rockstar games has updated the Official GTA IV website and it is now carrying a Games for Windows LIVE logo. This has sparked speculation that GTA may soon allow for cross platform play between PC and Xbox 360 and the PC may also be receiving the delayed 'exclusive' Xbox 360 GTA IV DLC..."

GameTrailers TV to Give Details on GTA IV DLC (News)

Aug 6, 2008

GameTrailers TV and Spike TV have announced that they will be interviewing Michael Hollick, the voice of Niko Bellic, in an upcoming episode of GameTrailers TV. During this interview, they will be talking about the upcoming downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV.

Stats: Taxi Murders Peaked Years Before GTA (News)

Aug 5, 2008

GamePolitics reports: "Absent speculation that Grand Theft Auto somehow played a role, the murder of a Bangkok cab driver by a 19-year-old-man in some ways appears similar to the typical murder of a cab driver in the United States.

In the U.S., cabbie killings appear to have very little to do with violent video games, given that they peaked in 1990-1993, when crude first-person shooters like Doom were the bloodiest games available and the first Grand Theft Auto was years away."

Thai Site Offers Local Perspective on GTA Cabbie Murder (News)

Aug 5, 2008

Via GamePolitics: "Frustrated by sketchy and somewhat conflicting English language news accounts of Bangkok's GTA Cabbie murder, GP went looking for local Thai sources and found Asian Sweetheart. The site is mostly pictures of "gorgeous Thai ladies," but the cabbie murder apparently got the owner's attention away from posting glam shots."

No Surprise Dept: Jack Thompson Wades into Thai GTA Case (News)

Aug 5, 2008

Via GamePolitics: "You knew it was only a matter of time.

In the wake of reports that a 19-year-old Thai man murdered a cab driver after playing Grand Theft Auto, embattled Miami attorney Jack Thompson has written a menacing e-mail to the top executives of Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the controversial series.

In the e-mail to T2 chairman Strauss Zelnick and CEO Ben Feder (and copied to dozens of other people, including GamePolitics), Thompson writes:

'I warned you both that copycat killings by teens would occur upon the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. Now my prediction has come true...'"

How not to make a video review (Feature)

Aug 5, 2008

For the benefit of budding handy-cam critics everywhere we've put together this five point checklist that we hope will provide some priceless pointers for making better video reviews. ...

Murder Blamed on GTA, Sales Halted (News)

Aug 4, 2008

In addition to the previous reports of a GTA related murder in Thailand, it appears that the sales of the game will now be halted.

Ripten writes:

"Here we go again. An 18 year old in Thailand confessed to the robbery and murder of a 54 year old taxi cab driver, claiming he was trying to recreate a scene from the Grand Theft Auto video game.

Distributors of the game in Thailand are now being instructed to remove the game from their shelves indefinitely it would seem. Sales and Marketing Director for New Era Interactive Media, Sakchai Chotikachinda, was quoted saying..."

GTA copycat murder in Thailand, games pulled from shelves (News)

Aug 4, 2008

A Thai videogame distributor has pulled copies of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto games from retailers in Thailand following reports of a GTA copycat crime that ended in the murder of a taxi driver over the weekend.

GTA 100 Percenters Have 7 Days to Get Their Key (News)

Aug 2, 2008

Rockstar sent notices out sometime after midnight to players who achieved 100 percent completion in Grand Theft Auto IV during the game's "Key to the City" contest (now closed, so if you're at 98.3 percent, suck it up.) Reader Farnic sent us a screenshot of his (fullsize after the jump). The fine print: "If you do not respond within seven days, you will be made ineligible for the prize." Also, it could take up to 120 days to get your key, depending on how many they have to make.

GTA IV 100% Club Contest winners notified (News)

Aug 2, 2008

Check your inbox eager gamers, Rockstar has announced that potential winners of the GTA IV 100% Club Contest have been notified.

Have you won?

Crime could pay for top video game (News)

Aug 1, 2008

The game, created by Edinburgh-based company Rockstar North, is the latest in the long-running franchise which sees gamers given the chance to run around lavishly-created virtual cities carrying out all manner of criminal activities.

This latest instalment has earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours. In its first day on release the game sold 3.6 million copies and earned more than £150 million.

At the Edinburgh awards, established to recognise innovation and design in video games, it will be up against the revolutionary Wii Fit, the incredibly popular Rock Band game and best-selling Halo 3.

The winner of the Edge Award will be announced on Monday, August 11.

Grand Theft Auto IV - Ghostriding glitch (Video)

Jul 28, 2008

GTA IV Ghostriding glitch (Feature)

Jul 28, 2008

We were goofing around in GTA IV multiplayer the other day, trying to play “grenade baseball,” when we discovered that the shopping carts in my world were not visible in my friend’s world. Naturally, this begged further investigation. The conclusion? You can get into a shopping cart and have your friend push you down a hill. ...

GTA IV confirmed for PC by ESRB (News)

Jul 26, 2008

C4D.dk reports: "Rockstar has repeatedly denied plans for a PC version of the ultra-popular Grand Theft Auto IV, which was released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles in April. There have been alot of rumours, latest had a PC dedicated magazine in Malaysia, Niko on the frontpage. But now it should be officially, ESRB has listed GTA IV on the three platforms, in which PC is one of them."

GTA IV Revealed for PC! - PC Gamer Malaysia (News)

Jul 24, 2008

A photo of the cover of the next PC Gamer Malaysia reveals that GTA IV is now coming to the PC!

Which console does best and worst in each genre? (Feature)

Jul 22, 2008

We compiled game review scores (collected from Metacritic) by genre to show you which console does each kind of game best, in the most unbiased way we can ...

GTA IV Car Named After Game Violence Researcher (News)

Jul 22, 2008

GamePolitics:

"A hybrid car available for jacking in GTA IV is named after a well-known game violence researcher, Dr. Karen Dill of North Carolina's Lenoir-Rhyne College."

The "Karin Dilettante" is a sporty hybrid sedan that appears in Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest installment in the famously violent and sexualized series of video games. "Chicks love electronic gadgets" is the slogan in fake ads for the car.

Ms. Dill says she couldn't believe that Rockstar Games, the maker of Grand Theft Auto, had taken the trouble to name a car for her: "I was kind of like, whoa, they actually do care about video-game research."

GTA: Chinatown Wars at PAX? (News)

Jul 22, 2008

In an interview with Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway [who announced GTA: Chinatown Wars for the DS at Nintendo's E3 press conference], she revealed that Nintendo are pushing on Rockstar for some new stuff on Chinatown Wars for the Penny Arcade Expo.

Rockstar Games have been confirmed to be attending so there is a good chance we will see some new Rockstar Games stuff including GTA for the Nintendo DS.

GTAIV PC: Prank Results in Half-Assed Confirmation (News)

Jul 19, 2008

Kotaku:

"Two guys worked up an extremely patient, social engineering prank that had 2K Games support believing, or at least suspicious of the possibility of a hacked Grand Theft Auto IV demo on pirate sites. And in the back-and-forth, it turned up this reply from tech support:

"The PC version of GTA IV has not even been announced for release and is still in development so is not about to be released on a website." "

Full story after the jump!

Take Two's Conference Over (News)

Jul 16, 2008

So Take Two's conference has to come to an end and a few of Rockstar's titles made appearences including a brief montage of GTA IV, Bully and L.A. Noire, a new trailer of Midnight Club: LA and a brief teaser of the new Red Dead Revolver 2 game.

GTA muggers sentenced (News)

Jul 15, 2008

A pair of hooded robbers who ambushed a man for his copy of the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto IV have been jailed for two years each.

Marc Hughes, 21, of Herbert Street, Leyland, and Oliver Aindow, 18, of Kingswood Road, Leyland, stalked their victim as he left a Leyland store after a midnight release of the 18-rated game.

E3 08: Grand Theft Auto IV DLC This Fall (News)

Jul 15, 2008

GamersPlatform Writes:

"Microsoft have announced that a new downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV will be released this year and it will give gamers a whole new gameplay experience. It's been rumored that this new DLC will give gamers new missions and storyline.

Check back @ GamersPlatform for more E3 Coverage"

E3 08: Is Mercenaries 2 better than GTA IV? (Feature)

Jul 14, 2008

In the weeks that followed the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, most of its high-profile competitors - including Prototype and Saints Row 2 - had their release dates hastily and conspicuously pushed back to fall or later. Most of them, that is, except for Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. After a number of pre-GTA IV delays, the free-roaming soldier-of-fortune simulator is sticking to its August release date, with no sissy retreat in ...